1. Technical Field
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to computer support services, and more particularly, to an answer support system to provide customer service support.
2. Description of Related Art
As computer and software products become increasingly complex many organizations have established customer support departments to solve problems and answer questions about their products and services. The customer support department strives to collect information from the customer, quickly determine the nature of a customer's problem, and communicate a solution to the customer. The efficiency of the customer support department depends largely on the skills and experiences of the first line support staff. However, the junior support staff directly interfacing with customers must typically spend considerable time honing their skills and gaining experience before they can provide satisfactory technical support.
FIG. 1 depicts a typical customer support process of a software enterprise. In step 103, first line support staff collect information related to the question by means of, for example, calling the customer. The collected information typically includes the type of problem the customer has encountered, in what environment the software product in running, what is seen by the customer, what is reported in the log, what changes are made before the problem happens, and other such information. The method proceeds to 105 where the first line support staff analyzes the collected information. In step 107 the first line support staff determines whether the collected information is enough for determining the cause of the problem. If more information needs to be collected the method proceeds to step 109 and the first-line support staff collect more information by conversing with the customer. But if the collected information is sufficient the method proceeds to step 111.
If, in step 111, the first-line support staff determines that they cannot answer the customer's question the method proceeds to step 113 to transfer the problem to second line senior staff for a solution. However, if first-line support staff is able to answer the customer's question then the method proceeds to step 115. In step 115, the first-line support staff forms a solution, and then provides the solution to the customer in step 117. If it is determined in step 119 that the problem is not solved the method proceeds back to block 107 to collect further information. However, if step 119 determines that the problem has been solved the method proceeds to 121 and the process ends.
One problem with this conventional method is that the senior technical staff who have gained the requisite experience and skills often find it tedious to repeat such processes day after day. This often results in attrition of the senior technical staff to other, more challenging jobs. As the senior support staff leaves the customer support department over time, the enterprise loses their valuable insights and experiences.
Automated assistant tools have been proposed in an attempt to assist support staff work. For example, U.S. patent application US20060078862 presents an answer support system which stores and uses past query cases to automatically provide proper answers to a customer's questions. However, since this system relies on information provided by the customer its effectiveness is limited by the customer's ability to describe the problem.